Book excerpt: This book consists of a series of essays which addresses the essentials of the development processes in user-experience design (UX design) planning, research, analysis, evaluation, training and implementation, and deals with the essential components (metaphors, mental models, navigation, and appearance) of user-interfaces and user-experiences during the period of 2002-2007. These essays grew from the authors own column entitled ‘Fast Forward’ which appeared in Interaction Magazine – the flagship publication of the ACM Special Interest Group on Human-Computing Interaction (SIGCHI). Written in such a way as to ensure longevity, these essays have not been edited or updated, however a short Postscripts has been added to provide some comments on each topic from a current perspective. HCI and User-Experience Design provides a fascinating historical review of the professional and research world of UX and HCI during a period of significant growth and development and would be of interest to students, researchers, and designers who are interested in recent developments within the field.